Harvard Stuns New Mexico, And 4 Other Need-To-Knows From The NCAA Tournament

Siyani Chambers and Laurent Rivard of the Harvard Crimson celebrate as the Crimson defeat the New Mexico Lobos 68-62 during the the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on Thursday in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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Originally published on March 22, 2013 10:34 am

The NCAA tournament got off to a stunning start on Thursday: Harvard, known more for its brains and seeded No. 14, sent No. 3 New Mexico packing with a 62-68 win.

"Last year, the Crimson made the tournament for the first time since 1946, losing to Vanderbilt.

"'We're still in disbelief,' senior guard Christian Webster said. 'This is as good as it gets right now.'

"Laurent Rivard, a junior guard from Quebec, said it was something he dreamed about as a little kid.

"'To do it with Harvard on our chest, it can't get better than this,' Rivard said."

We'll leave you with four other moments you need to know if you want to at least pretend to be keeping up with the tournament:

-- ESPN reports: "Since seeding began in 1979, the 46-point victory by 5-seed Virginia Commonwealth over No. 12 Akron was the largest margin of victory ever by any team seeded lower than 2. That record lasted for about an hour. Syracuse, a 4-seed, broke it with a 47-point win over Montana."

"When it was over Thursday night, after 39 bracket-busting minutes and one of pure mayhem, the Davidson Wildcats sat on their chairs, as if unwilling — or, perhaps, unable — to move. It was still all too fresh for them, how defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory, another monumental upset in the N.C.A.A. tournament filched with a second to spare.

"'It was just like, 'How did that happen?' Davidson guard Tyler Kalinoski said."

-- Two-Way readers, who are incredibly smart, correctly predicted that the most likely upset would happen between Oregon and Oklahoma State. Oregon, seeded 12, beat Oklahoma State, seeded 5th, by a score of 68-55.